Church Hill

Church Hill is a neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. It encompasses the original land plat of the city of Richmond, and it takes its name from St. John's Episcopal Church, where Patrick Henry gave his famous "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech on 23 March 1775. During the 1970s, Church Hill became an African-American ghetto with high murder rates; while the murder rates of Richmond decreased, the murder rate in Church Hill doubled. During the 21st century, gentrification led to the division of Church Hill into the mostly white and alternative middle-class section and the ghetto section, which was known for its boarded-up homes, homelessness, and sagging pants.